Like jock itch or mosquitos by a campfire, persistent things, like it or not, tend to stay with us.

The Dunkin’ Donuts insisting on putting a drive-thru on Hope Street, and throw a monkey-wrench into traffic in an already clustered intersection, won't stop until Bristolians and its leaders from speaking up and squashing it. It's okay to look at other towns and emulate good things they do.

I don't want Bristol to be Barrington, but they are vigilant about their good name. They have a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Starbucks; neither have drive-thrus. Why? It's simple; it would retard traffic in already clustered areas. Seems obvious to me.

Talk of a Comfort Inn on Tupelo street is just as discouraging. We have such-rich, home-grown roots in Bristol. Why would anyone want to bastardize our culture. The further we go down this "commercial" road, the further we get from our historic pride, and the more likely we become hackneyed. The only possibility of a hotel should be a boutique, original one with astonishing architecture and a name derived from the guts of our glorious town lineage. Maybe after the Comfort Inn comes to town, we could put a McDonalds on the Town Common and a Taco Bell at Independence Park?

It can be a struggle to have a town built on the able backs of the people who live in said town, but I think it's a struggle worth enduring. The more we open the door to more corporate outside entities, the more we lose our beautiful, independent identity.

Lastly, the top of Broad Common Road needs to be a right turn only. I've never seen more, near t-bone, broadside accidents in my life. It's a lazy shortcut, where bold, emblazoned drivers get frustrated waiting in a long line and then cut off and block oncoming traffic constantly. That change is simple, and long overdue, and the life it saves could be my own.

Kevin Centazzo
Bristol